ROR REVIEWS: Marvel's ANT-MAN Falls A Bit Short
Marvel no doubt has another massive hit on their hands with Peyton Reed's Ant-Man, and the reviews so far have been fairly positive overall. Unfortunately I wasn't as impressed with it as Nate was, though it's definitely a fun little movie. Some mild SPOILERS ahead...
Kevin Feige recently made the claim that despite Marvel's movie output focusing on a bunch of well known comic book characters, they make genre pictures that shouldn't all be painted with the "superhero movie" brush. This is true to some extent: Guardians of the Galaxy is a fairly odd space adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier works as a paranoid spy thriller, and Ant-Man is most definitely a heist move. But as different as these films are in terms of the genre they can be slotted into, it's the execution that's become formulaic - and Ant-Man is just the latest example of been there, seen that, bought the Pym Particles t-shirt.
That's not to say it isn't a good movie and there is a lot to like, it's just that Marvel's refusal to take a few risks with their storytelling is beginning to get tedious, and is resulting in some pretty generic pictures.
After a visually impressive and quite intriguing prologue, we do kick off with what appears at first to be a significant change to the usual origin story: this time the hero is actually a criminal, and has just been released from prison. But in no time at all Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is established as a great guy, down on his luck, who just made a few mistakes and is looking for redemption. The opportunity for that comes from Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), who offer Scott the chance to become a real hero in the eyes of his daughter Cassie by stopping Pym's former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, falling into the "rich asshole who wants to get even richer" category of Marvel villains, of which there are 2) from selling Pym's advanced technology to some evil types.
From here it's training montages, bickering, and exposition as Scott prepares to break into Cross' lab, but it is all entertaining stuff for the most part, with a few genuine laughs here and there. There are surprises too, and some pretty out there scenes - a dust-up with an Avenger, Scott shrinking down with his awesome ant-army, the Thomas the Tank Engine silliness glimpsed in the trailer, and the visual of a little girl feeding a giant ant under the table - that end up being the highlights of the film, it's just a shame there aren't more of them. A heist movie needs a sting in the tale, a twist - something we didn't see coming to really be successful, and there is nothing like that here. The one attempt comes towards the end when Cross reveals that he's been on to Pym and co. all along, but the audience was painfully aware of this from pretty much their first scene together.
The cast are all fine (though Rudd's natural charisma seems somewhat muted), but the script never really allows them to shine. An emotional moment between Pym and Hope winds up being the only really affecting scene in the movie, and even the father/daughter stuff with Scott and Cassie comes across a bit forced. The action scenes are also as well staged as you'd expect from a Marvel flick, and the shrinking does add a different dynamic to the usual carnage - but when you know pretty much everything that's going to happen, it tends to lessen the excitement factor somewhat.
Ant-Man is an entertaining time at the movies, and there are some moments of greatness, but it's hard to shake the feeling of deja vu - even if there are scenes featuring a tiny dude leading his ant pals into battle. Hardcore fans and youngsters will surely have a lot of fun and there's some welcome nods to the wider Marvel Universe, but ultimately it all just seems a bit... pointless. But hey, sticking to the "Marvel Formula" is obviously working out very well indeed for the studio... financially, anyway.